U.S. President Donald Trump is open to meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, but only under one clear condition: Putin must first meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a White House official cited by the New York Post.
“No meeting location has been set,” the official added.
On Thursday, the Kremlin stated that Moscow and Washington had agreed “in principle” to hold a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Trump.
“It was agreed in principle to hold a bilateral meeting in the coming days between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump,” said Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, adding that the proposal “came from the American side.”
However, the White House has not officially confirmed any such meeting. During a Wednesday press briefing, officials only referred to the possibility of a trilateral summit involving the leaders of the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.
Such a meeting would mark a historic step toward peace in Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, no leader — including former U.S. President Joe Biden — has managed to bring both sides to the same negotiating table.
The Kremlin, however, appeared cautious about the idea of a Putin–Zelenskiy meeting.
“First, we propose to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it important for this meeting to be successful and effective,” Ushakov said.
Diplomatic sources suggest that the United Arab Emirates is being considered as a possible venue for the Trump-Putin talks, but no date has yet been set.
